[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> good morning and welcome to the "bill press show"! i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill for the very first time ever here on his excellent radio show and his excellent television show on current tv. we've got a very exciting day for you today. i'm so thrilled to be here and drag the entire proceedings down to my own base level. today is the 23rd of august. the birthday of jean kelly barbara eden of "i love jeanie"

and mark russell of course and today would have been the 66th birthday of keith moon. in honor of keith try to throw a chair out of your hotel window. we'll be talking about abortion and rape, something men are talking about a lot in america. before we get started let's go to lisa ferguson for a news update. >> mitt romney is looking to expand u.s. oil production if he's elected president. he will be in new mexico today where he's outlining the campaign's new energy policy. not surprisingly, romney's plan does little to address green jobs but it does call for more domestic energy development and for reaching north american energy independence by 2020. that includes developing the keystone pipeline and expanding gas and coal production around the country. he also wants to take away federal responsibilities, leaving the states in charge of leasing and regulation.

that is a big contrast from president obama's plan which calls for more renewable fuels like wind and solar power. as for the president he is off the campaign trail today. nothing on his schedule other than the daily meeting at the white house. that is after a new york city fund-raiser last night hosted by basketball star michael jordan. the president said he could not resist a good sports analogy and his opponents are playing a little dirty but at this point there's just seven minutes left in the game and that is where you put them away. michael jordan knows that. according to the latest polls president obama is in a dead heat with romney. economists and ugov has the race tied at 45% and apgfk shows romney could be closing the gap in wing states. romney has gained ground in eight of the country's battleground states. some say wisconsin and michigan are too close to call. new hampshire is the only state

where the president has expanded his lead and nationwide, he's up by just 1%. back with more john coming up. see you then. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." now, filling in for bill, here's john fuglesang. >> john: good morning everyone out there in bill press land. i'm john fuglesang humbled and honored to be filling in for the great man this morning and tomorrow morning as well. some of you may know me from my appearances on "the stephanie miller show," the unholy monday strosty that follows this in many radio markets. i'm proud to be here as a long

time fan of bill. we were on bill maher together many moons ago. i got to be with him at current's big up-fronts for the tcas in los angeles last month. so i'm a big bill fan. i'm such a big bill press fan i'm going to reveal something now. i have a newborn baby. at home. born on march 12th which is mitt romney's birthday. that's true. my first and only child was born on mitt romney's 65th birthday this past winter. about a week before i caused a kerfuffle on cnn with an etch-a-sketch comment with eric fehrnstrom which i still get hate mail for by the way. my child was born on mitt romney's birthday. he shares his birthday with a number of other famous people. you ef door this, you look up to see who else was born on your day? >> sure. >> john: mine, charlie sheen. my kid brother has bill murray

and cohen. once my kid popped out, does he have cool people on his birthday. march 12th is mitt romney's birthday which he shares with darryl strawberry, edward albie playwright author, liza minnelli and american actor ron jeremy. now, of course, ron jeremy is an adult film star. what does it say about pisces men that mitt romney and ron jeremy can share a birthday. can you imagine that overexposed swollen member and ron jeremy share a birthday. so anyway, every morning my child wakes up at 6:00 a.m. or earlier and i have to go pick up little screechy because i'm a beta in my house. my morning begins every day with bill press as i bottle-feed the baby and my child now looks at bill press and calls him daddy. so it is really moving for me. >> that's exactly what dan does.

[ laughter ] >> john: it is a big thrill to be here on bill's tv show confusing my own child. if you don't watch bill's show, what's the matter with you? if you're a trucker, you should invest and have a tv in your truck so you can turn over casually to watch. it is a great tv show. it is a pleasure to get to see dan and peter on the air every day. >> thanks for being here, john. great to have you. >> i feel like ringo starr. i'm just glad to be here. >> i feel like pete best. >> john: working in the electronics shop. >> 50 years ago this week that ringo made his very first live performance with the beatles. >> really? >> john: this is a great week of history. >> it was all downhill from there for ringo. >> john: ringo did some good songs. >> octopus' garden? >> john: don't pass me by is a great song. so there's nothing but ringo love here.

72 this year by the way. they're getting up there. bob dylan just turned 71. his new album comes out next month. as i mentioned earlier keith moon would have been 66 today. and the late, great joe strummer of the clash would have turned 60 this week. >> wow. >> john: so if you're a classic rock nerd, there's plenty to be confused about. i come here for one reason to experience the power the awesome glory that is the "full court press" with dan henning! >> this is the "full court press." >> wow. >> stand back! >> with an intro like that. >> other headlines making news on this thursday. in sports, another day another baseball play suspended for steroid use. major league baseball suspending oakland athletics pitcher bartolo colon for 50 years for testing positive for testosterone. he joins cabrera of the fran giants suspended last week for the same reason. big blow to the athletic wild card bid.

colon did not appeal. he did apologize. >> john: back in the '90s, taking steroids was called saving baseball. we would have the home runs. >> sammy sosa, mark mcgwire battle back in '99. >> john: i'm against steroids in sports. i think we should have a dope league where people can take whatever drugs they want and then they can pay off the deficit. there is something wrong where you can't use baseball while using performance enhancing drugs but you can't use auto tune. >> in hollywood, l. l. cool j used his acting training to catch a burglar at his house yesterday. the rapper and actor stars in cbs's ncis los angeles. he found a man in his home. tmz reports he brought the suspect down, held him until cops arrived. the suspect had minor bruises and was arrested. >> john: the suspect was

penalized. >> ll said mama said knock you out. >> "forbes" magazine is out with its annual list of the world's most powerful women. german chancellor angela merkel is number one for the second year in the row ahead of u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. followed by melinda gates and "new york times" editor jill averson rounding out the top five. notably absent are michele bachmann and sarah palin. last year, they ranked 22nd and 34th. >> why would michele bachmann be on the list? >> she was last year. >> john: michele bachmann is a complex person. listen. a year ago she made the list because she had just bought -- sorry, just one and she almost became our second president who believes rwanda was -- god bless her. angela merkel, i think hillary clinton had somewhat of a better year than angela merkel did.

a year where george w. bush isn't giving you involuntary shoulder runs is a good year. that all we got? >> get out of there dan. >> john: let's hear dan's theme one more time. i guess it is too late. >> i don't have dan's theme. >> john: i love the big news crash theme. he uses that for foreplay. >> wait for it next hour. >> john: today is going to be an exciting day. we want to know your thoughts. tweet us at bpshow or at john fuglesang on twitter. you have to be able to spell fuglesang. it's apologize in advance. call us at 1-866-55-press. that's 1-866-55-press. we want to know your thoughts. now obviously today we're going to deal quite a bit with the very ugly topic of rape and abortion. of course, paul ryan has experienced i would say his second major flip-flop of the

campaign. it turns out that flip-flopping is now an airborne virus in the g.o.p. and we saw of course, the first major flip-flop a few weeks ago when paul ryan refuted ayn rand said he never loved her even though he gave away copies for years. and where he actually came out and said the notion he had ever admired ayn rand was an urban legend. he's just outflip-flopped himself. paul ryan has pretty much walked back on hr3 the personhood bill he himself submitted to congress along with todd akin america's favorite warm and cuddly guy. this would allow rapists to pick out the mothers of their own children. i choose this language very carefully. now, of course, we see that governor romney's party has written into their platform the specification that abortion will not be allowed in cases of rape or incest. wherever you stand on the issue

of terminating pregnancies, this will touch you and unfortunately i'm going to make the argument today on bill's show if you are pro-life, i hate the terms pro-life and pro-choice but if you're opposed to abortion rights for women in this country and you're supporting the republican party, you are a sucker because the republican party doesn't care one bit about abortion. they need abortion to stay illegal because keeping abortion illegal -- or rather keeping abortion legal is the single greatest fund-raising tool of the modern g.o.p. we'll be discussing this at length. but i would like to play our first sound byte of the day if we could. when paul ryan was asked about his support for abortion and when they tried to pin him down on his feelings on todd akin's views. >> outrageous. i don't know anybody who would agree with that. rape is rape, period, end of story. >> john: okay. first off, i want to give paul ryan credit for the greatest mixed metaphor of the week.

i would say over the pail. i think beyond the line sounds way cooler and makes sense. over the pail makes less sense than beyond the pail. >> i'm so thirsty, i could drink a horse. >> john: exactly. of course, paul ryan is famous for saying that life begins at conception in the personhood bill. i have no problem with saying that life begins at conception as long as you then lower the drinking age to 20 years and three months. but paul ryan was asked about this and here's where he really walks back on his own views. can we play cut number two. >> should abortions be available to women who are raped? look, i'm proud of my pro-life record. and i stand by my pro-life record in congress. it is something i'm proud of. but mitt romney is the top of the ticket and mitt romney will be president and he will set the policy of the romney administration. >> john: okay, i think that's the longest way anyone has ever said no. in history. can we play that cut one more

time. listen very carefully to what the reporter asks him and listen to how skillful paul ryan already is at dodging simple yes or no questions. >> should abortions be available to women who are raped? >> well look, i'm proud of my pro-life record and i stand by my pro-life record in congress. it is something i'm proud of. but mitt romney is the top of the ticket and mitt romney will be president and he will set the policy of the romney administration. >> john: i would like to point out something about paul ryan's pro-life record. paul ryan voted for the iraq war so clearly he doesn't believe all life is sacred. i would like to point out that paul ryan is opposed to abortion because he's such a staunch catholic. however, my friends we want your calls on this at 1-866-55-press, the catholic church is every bit as opposed to the death penalty as it is to abortion. they talk about it more in europe because it is a better fund-raising tool there than it is here. jesus never said a thing about terminating pregnancies. he was very specific about the

death penalty and not executing sinners. however, paul ryan apparently is, i guess a better christian than jesus. i would like to point out that this current pope benedict and the last pope, john paul ii both opposed the iraq war. paul ryan believes they were wrong. so that's what kind of a staunch catholic you're dealing with right here. again, the whole essence of this argument is are women who are raped entitled to the choice of what they want to do with that pregnancy? now, i know plenty of folks who describe themselves as pro-life who still feel this way. in fact, the majority of this country supports some or all abortion rights. according to a gallup poll earlier this year, 77% of americans support all or some abortion rights. less than half. only 43% identify themselves as pro-choice. when this gallup poll came out two months ago our pro-life friends made a big fuss about it saying they were winning and that somehow abortion rights was

becoming less popular. abortions never popular. so -- but when you look at the actual figures it shows that 77% of all americans don't classify themselves as pro-choice but they do support all or some abortion rights. so again it's not going to happen no matter who they put on the supreme court, you're not going to see abortion becoming illegal in all 50 states in this country but it is a great talking point because it raises tons of money out of social conservatives. now, assuming which many of us do that the republican party is controlled by wall street, keep this in mind. wall street doesn't care one bit about abortion. they would like it to stay legal, i presume. wall street doesn't care one bit about gay marriage and wall street really doesn't care about illegal immigration. in fact, they prefer it because illegal immigration is keeping this economy propped up. exploiting labor is something that never goes out of style. so what you're going to see is a bunch of republican shells

telling social conservatives exactly what had they want to hear. but if you were a pro-lifer, why would you vote republican looking at their record of the past 30 years? we're going to talk about that all day today. we want your thoughts and we want your calls at 1-866-55-press. and again, please tweet us at john fuglesang or at bpshow on twitter. i'm john fuglesang. so happy to be filling in today. a lot of ugly topics. we're going to try to tackle them with humor and wit. we'll be right back. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >>since when do you get to say stuff like that on tv? >> listen, if you'd read your email once in a while, you'd know i have a new show. (vo) always outspoken. >> you think because this is an election year you can just say anything? >> hello! say anything, that's the name of the show.

(vo) john fugelsang is filling in on full court press with bill press. >> i love jesus, it's just that i view jesus the way i view elvis. i love the guy, but a lot of the fan clubs tend to freak me out. (vo) john fugelsang will be back tomorrow morning starting at 6 eastern. >> announcer: heard around the

country and seen on current tv >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. happy to be filling in for the great mr. press. with you all three hours this morning and tomorrow morning taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. and taking your tweets at bpshow or at john fuglesang on the twitter machine. i apologize in advance that means you need to know how to spell fuglesang. we will be talking of course all morning about the personhood bill, about todd akin still. i don't think this story is going away. it seems to be, peter back me up on this, this seems to be exactly the story the obama administration was looking for. mitt romney keeps trying to use the economy as a wedge and lying about the economy as a wedge as well. blaming the 2009 budget on this president. >> yeah. >> john: to top it off the stimulus is going to be, i think, more relevant than ever when you consider we were losing

750,000 jobs per month, my friends at the time george w. bush left office, it was the stimulus that stopped that hemorrhaging the stimulus was a tourniquet on our job less. has the recovery been as fast as anyone would like? of course it hasn't but let's not forget they keep taking away their wedges. this is like in '04 when john kerry was going to run and using the iraq war as an issue. when mccain was going to run against barack obama using his inexperience as a wedge issue sarah palin took it away. mitt romney's only hope is to use the economy as a wedge. no matter what he uses, lucy keeps snatching the football away. you had paul ryan who decries it and says how horrible it is. we've had great video of him supporting all of bush's stimulus right down to standing on the floor of the house and saying how a stimulus will help an economy and explaining why in 2002 and of course, we now know paul ryan was asking for stimulus funds under president

obama in 2009. that's paul ryan, my friends. i don't want your stimulus. give me your stimulus. i don't want your stimulus! give me your stimulus! sounds like my prom date. this week, of course, todd akin gave the obama administration the best excuse to not have to talk about the economy which is, of course, the issue of legitimate rape. legitimate rape being the most awful term to come out of the republican party since forcible rape. under the personhood bill that akin and paul ryan sponsored together that said that abortion might be allowed in cases of forcible rape. what does that mean? that means obviously where it is violent. why is that language so sinister? because it doesn't include nonforcible rape which is implied to be cases of incest and molestation where there is not exactly violence going on before the violent act of the rape. so look, these guys, i'm not going to come out and say it is a war on women. many democrats will. i'm not a democrat.

it is a war on women's reproductive freedoms. wherever you stand on the issue you have to agree that's exactly what we see going on here. i want to see paul ryan own it and stand up and say if you've been raped, you have to bear your rapist child because that's what he believes. that's what the party believes and that's what the president and joe biden will spend the next 11 weeks holding their feet to the fire on and making them come out and say it. we do want to know what you think and we'll be taking your calls when we come back. again, the number is 1-866-55-press. we're also going to be talking of course about hurricane isaac if it becomes a hurricane and rush limbaugh's loopy conspiracy theories about conspiracy theories. we'll talk quite a bit about paul ryan and his love for ayn rand which he's now backtracked on or as i call it a flip-flop. i'm john fuglesang filling in for captain bill press along with peter and dan right here in the studio. we look forward to your calls and your tweets. join us. this is the "bill press show" on current tv.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang happily filling in for bill. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. talking about the issue americans care most about prince harry's horrible behavior in las vegas. you know, there's few things that make me more upset than seeing a 27-year-old rich male going to vegas and having a good time with girls. i think it is disgusting, i think it is immoral. i think he's disgraced the

queen. i think he's been an embarrassment to his incredibly racist grandfather and he's a deep embarrassment to his brother, the future fake king of england. i'm horrified that this embarrassment and that someone british was allowed to have a good time. we're taking your calls and tweets. bill is calling us from chicago. bill, good morning. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. basically, my only comment was how the republican party says that they're basically like the christian party the party of god. why are they for war? why are you for guns? but then you're against abortion. and then they talk about how -- about big government. well, hey, you know what? your corporation is like a big government basically. trying to force your rules down our throats.

and that's about it. >> john: you make some great points bill. when it comes to big government, let's be honest about one thing. if you want a government based on christian values, that means you take care of the poor you take care of the sick. you take care of prisoners in jail. i'm going by matthew chapter 25 here and you don't start fights. let's not forget when jesus was finally arrested by the thugs of the roman army, his followers who were bearing arms as was their right wanted to fight back and jesus said those who live by the sword will die by the sword. now our right wing christian friends have taken that to say that jesus was in favor of the death penalty which is the opposite of the truth. here's who jesus was this figure head of the republican party. jesus was a peaceful, radical nonviolent revolutionary. never spoke english. was not an american citizen. he was anti-capitalism. chase those guys out of the temple. he was anti-wealth. he was anti-public prayer.

matthew 6:5 blow your mouth completely anti-death penalty. never was jesus anti-gay. never was he anti-abortion. didn't mention it. didn't actually mention premarital sex. he never called the poor lazy. he never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest nazarenes. he never asked a lep ar for a co-pay. he never justified torture. he was a long-haired brown skin in revelation, kirk cameron homeless mideastern jew. that's the guy our republican brothers and sisters are claiming to follow. you're allowed to cling to war. you're allowed to really, really you know, want to take funding away from the poor. but this is the problem with conservative christian mentality in america. they like to say well, jesus helped the poor but he -- my tax dollars, rob me. when you vote in a dmorks you're a fund custodian. you get to decide where our collective money goes.

jesus lived in occupied holyland. he didn't have democracy. we do. and that's what the right wing christians fail to understand. they want to believe that you've gotta be completely christian except when you're in the voting booth. and then jesus can't see you so you can drop all of that care about the poor crap and that's why time and time again we see that it is the loudest self-proclaimed american christians who are going and voting for the most powerful. they're voting for the rich to get tax cuts. they're voting for the guys who want to nuke iran. they're voting thinking jesus wants to help the poor by slashing funds to any program that would help the poor. jesus commanded his followers to heal the sick but they're not for that. they don't want the kind of healthcare system enjoyed by all of our capitalist allies. they want an insane healthcare system where employers have to help end debt and pay insurance. a public option or single payer are the most pro-business ideas to come out of america in the

last 50 years. it is the real conservatives and the real patriots and i have no problem saying the real christians who are fighting for it. and as far as guns, well, not everyone has faith. arnold in toledo, ohio, welcome to the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning, john. i'm quickly becoming a big fan of yours. we both have something very much in common. >> john: uh-oh. >> caller: we both love the "bill press show." >> john: we sure do. thank you for your low standards of liking me. i appreciate it. [ laughter ] listen on this second vote, out there in missouri -- i have trouble with names. he was denying that. >> john: todd akin you're talking about? >> caller: todd akin. denying who he was and what he did. down there in tampa the committee was chiseling it in stone. they act like they don't say

anything. and that nobody's making record. they were chiseling this idea. if you get raped you get pregnant, you're going to have that baby. your father raped you, you're going to have that baby. the republicans, this is one i can't stand. they care so much about life inside the womb but once the baby is born, they could give a bloop about that baby. >> john: george carlin had a more col oakian way. i think any woman who is rape and carries that child to term is a hero. i as a man know i shouldn't be the one making that decision and she should have the choice as to what she wants to do. what the republicans did very wisely and i want to be fair to them here, they really split hairs on this. they came out and decried his comments but they decried his

comments on how a woman can spontaneously abort a pregnancy if she was raped. it was crazy loopy. that's the part that mitt romney and ryan have decried. what the liberal media has failed to do and i'll believe the media is liberal when they cover a march is to hold their feet to the fire and say okay, we know you disagree with akin's comments about a woman being able to spontaneously lose a pregnancy if she's been raped but do you agree with him that rape victims should be forced to carry the child to term? i haven't heard anyone get an honest answer out of either one of them and i want to see my american media holding their feet to the fire on that topic from now until election day. joey is calling us from chicago. good morning joey. >> caller: good morning. paul ryan, his economic policies are based on an atheist. you cannot serve both man and god. you cannot give money to the rich and take from the poor. you can't do that.

arnold was right. if you're not born, they really care about you but as soon as you're born, hit the road, you're on your own. i can't stand it. >> john: i agree with you. you're talking of course about ayn rand, the atheist. not only was she an atheist, she was an atheist who hated religion. hated the concept of god and belittled people of faith. now when paul ryan pulled this little flip-flop on ayn rand not too long ago and said it was an urban legend he ever liked her he invoked herrate yism as the -- her atheism as to where he rejected her. he said he was into thomas eye eye -- aquinas. he believed in private property. i include ron paul there as well. he may be one of the most sane, moral guys in all of d.c. on half of the issues but on the other half, he pretty much hates

america. you know, this anti-government strain is all a plot by the aristocracy to keep -- if you replace the government by we the people, you'll see how creepy it is. while i admire paul ryan on the drug war and iraq. he's one of the most fearless people in congress who's been able to stand up and say hey iraq was unconstitutional. he's completely nuts on things like the americans are disabilities act which is the best thing my government has done in the last 30 years. he's completely nuts on talking about the voting rights act. they're trying to march us back to the dark ages in a new era of feudlism. we have to shine a light on them and i'm telling you if the social conservatives were nonmillionaires, knew what paul ryan and mitt romney really stood for, they would vote for the ticket of obama biden. they're supporting all americans, not just the

arisocracy. we have a lot of callers on hold. check in with us at 1-866-55-press. i'm john fuglesang. it is 6:42 a.m. on the east coast. i think i'm starting to wake up. we want to hear from you. come on back. we'll see you in a minute. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." in on full court press with bill press. >> i love jesus, it's just that i view jesus the way i view elvis. i love the guy, but a lot of the fan clubs tend to freak me out. (vo) john fugelsang will be back tomorrow morning starting at 6 eastern.

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to be the knowing, delighted accomplice in the billionaires' purchase of our nation. >> and you think it doesn't affect you? think again. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in

for bill all morning here in d.c. please give us a ring, won't you? we're lonely and need you. we're at 1-866-55-press. i just want to say what a bold choice it was for governor romney to choose paul ryan as his running mate. to see these two men together, making their appearances gazing adoringly into each other's ice talking about what a great team they make, talking about how awesome the other is. it is two men completely opposed to gay marriage who always look like they're about to announce one. but i do want to say to paul ryan as we've said all morning paul, because i know you're listening, it is great to be here in your city. you're allowed to follow jesus. you're allowed to follow ayn rand but you don't get to follow both. and this morning, we're going to play the clips that prove that paul ryan is lying to the republican base and lying to all christians when he says he rejects ayn rand because he's an atheist. we will be playing the clips later in the show. you don't want to miss it. if you have friends mad about

the hypocrisy on this ticket, have them tune into the "bill press show" or watch on current tv right now so they can be around for the clips that will nail paul ryan to the wall of lying shame. jean is calling us from cleveland, ohio. gene, i'm john. good morning, you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning, john. paul ryan's voting record and his budget are in the congressional record. they weren't written on etch-a-sketch. when you bring that up to them, they find the truth offensive. if you bring up what they actually voted on and what they said in the past, they really get offended. >> john: can you give me an example of them getting offended? >> caller: everything. every time you bring up their voting record and talk about abortions and forced rape, they get really offended if you bring that up to them. >> john: i think they do. but it is more -- the greater problem to me is this weaselly way they have of not answering a

direct question. we saw of this ryan yesterday when he was asked about his support for the personhood bill which would also ban abortion in the case of rape and paul ryan chose to just get around it by saying he's proud of his pro-life record that horrible liberal journalist let him get away with the weaselly behavior. i don't know if they get outraged. i would like to see clips of that. i think the real outrage is our conservative brothers and sisters don't care about how deeply and broadly and consistently they're being lied to. they love being lied to. because the conservative base is sort of like the really dumb girl of the party who wants you to tell her exactly what she wants to hear. the conservative base is carmella soprano. let's go over to roy in asheville, north carolina. where my brother lives and my mom is about to move. good morning roy. >> caller: wow, you're so lucky. >> john: why am i lucky? >> caller: you may get to visit the cultural center of the

universe. >> john: it is the cultural center of north carolina. it is what that rep stand state senator called the cesspool of sin in your state. i was there two weeks ago. i had the honor of playing in asheville. we sold out the civic center with stephanie miller's sexy liberal tour with hal sparks last fall. >> caller: the 50 microbreweries. >> john: it is a very hip town. if you took like sonoma and williamsburg and put them in a better climate, you would have asheville. >> caller: not williamsburg though. >> john: it is pretty hip down there. the men are wearing gauges and tattoos. >> caller: john, i want you to take heart about this crazy wedge issue of legal medical abortion. i believe it is going the way of the dodo and forced prayer in the public schools because i canvassed heavily in '08 for obama-biden and every time i ran across one of these you know

single issue voters who -- they were old crazy white trash at death's door, they have gone to this well too many times. it is running dry. >> john: on abortion you mean? >> caller: especially on that. it is really not even there. it is a nonissue. >> john: i wouldn't go that far, roy. there are a lot of young people opposed to abortion. by the same token, there are plenty of folks on the left who have been single issue voters who are pro-choice, pro-choice, pro-choice. that's not good enough either. you have to know what you're fighting for and why you're fighting for it. do you really think this debate is going in the way of the dodo? i think they will raise funds for as long as they possibly can. that's why the debate is so hot. the political party needs abortion to raise money from social conservatives. >> caller: let me tell you something that shows how scared they're running. i was looking for stephanie miller on hannity the last couple of nights.

>> john: she was supposed to be on last night. >> caller: i don't think she was. >> john: she wasn't. >> caller: sean hannity is wetting his panties over joe biden is coming to tampa. he's going to be in the area for a little get together or something. and they just -- they're just so afraid and they're trying to get rid of joe biden. i don't know if you've noticed. just talking about him and everything. jolting joe is golden for us. he's the man. joe biden may be a bit of a gaffe machine but it is great to see people who voted twice for bush making fun of joe biden's intellect. joe biden not only has a fierce intellect, he has an amazing huge heart which is why he will mop the floor with paul ryan. joe biden is a huge hearted

american who really puts his money where his mouth is. really cares and i'll take his morality over the entire g.o.p. any day. i do thank you for the call. we'll be taking more of your calls at 1-866-55-press. and i love joe biden. he's a guarantee that no one will ever take a shot at barack obama. what do you want? you want to get the middle-aged white guy who is a middle age with plugs? no republican wants that. we'll be right back after this. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

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show." live on your radio and current >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: the tweets are coming in today at the "bill press show." it would have been keith moon's 66th birthday. prohibiting female autonomy is a pillar of our society that massogeneous can't do without. the akins of the world hate women period. i don't think they hate women. i think they hate women's minds. this one says obama didn't have to look for akin. akin opened his fool mouth. by remaining in the race, akin keeps it alive. fake republican, one of my favorites says you y'all don't get how many of us in the g.o.p. are qualified to throw the first stone. david is calling us from boston. good morning david. you're on the "bill press show." i'm johnny. how are you? >> caller: hey, gentle john, how you doing? >> john: good. >> caller: my name happens to be david hubble as in the telescope and i'm related to the guy.

that's not why i called. i also went to wester polly tech institute and todd akin was a fraternity brother of mine. i graduated in '73. he was the class before me. i knew him from a totally different perspective. you can understand it. he really is a gentle man. he's a kind man but he's obviously been subverted by an ideology that is really not his. he's a representative. i actually posted a couple of things on facebook about him and before i even heard his comments, i wrote something about brother todd come back or something. >> john: yeah. >> caller: subsequent to that, i heard his comments. i also have a career of 30 years of an ob/gyn. >> john: david, we have to go to break. interesting todd akin knows someone involved in science. i think he's convinced himself it is good. that's the problem with the g.o.p. we'll be right back.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: good morning. this is the "bill press show" on radio and current tv. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill, giving our all morning long tribute to congressman paul ryan. a very complex guy who voted for bush's tarp bailout. voted for bush's stimuluses in 2002 and 2008. who voted for no child left behind, he voted for the iraq war, he voted for medicare part d, he requested stimulus funding, he wants to cut taxes

for the rich making the deficit worse than ever and he really hates government spending. that's who you got my republican brothers and sisters. live it up. we're thrilled you're with us this morning on the "bill press show" and more thrilled because i as a special guest host get to throw to the spectacular and brilliant lisa ferguson for another current news update. take it, lisa. >> hi, john. good morning everyone. we know mitt romney is trying to use some of president obama's own allies against him. perhaps most notably bill clinton. the romney camp is featuring clinton's welfare reform in a series of new ads against the president. but today team obama is taking clinton back for themselves. here he is in a new ad called fair choice. >> the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from the ground, up. investing in innovation, education and job training. >> that ad starts running today in eight key states including

florida, ohio and virginia. this week marks the anniversary of president clinton's welfare reform. even though major fact checking groups say romney's welfare ads are totally false, he is still sticking by those claims. romney's surrogate john sununu is weighing in as well saying obama is weakening work requirements. of course, we know that isn't true. the president's plan actually aims to add 20% more people to the work force. and going back to what john has been talking about this hour in the republican stance on abortion, of course, paul ryan is saying he's proud of his abortion record. here are a few other names to keep in mind. hawaii senate candidate linda lingle is trying to paint herself as a moderate in this year's election. but she vote toed a bill requiring hospitals to give rape victims emergency contraception. and new hampshire candidate frank says he will do whatever it takes to stop abortions even if that's means using deadly

force. more john coming up and we're live in chat, current.com/billpress. >> we talk a lot about the influence of money in politics. it is the defining issue of this era. the candidate with the most money does win. this is a national crisis. what makes hershey's s'mores special?

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." now, filling in for bill, here's john fuglesang. >> john: good morning kids. welcome to the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. almost awake here on your radio and on current tv. what a thrill for me to be filling in for bill. one of my favorite journalists and broadcasters and one of my media types in general. just a brilliant gentle man who i think is one of the most ferocious champions of the causes of liberty and justice in

this country. i'm thrilled to be here to bring some balance and what a pleasure to be with you as well. please, we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. that's 1-866-55-press. we're also reading your tweets on the air all morning. bill w writes and by the way you should copyright that before aa rips you off. biden doesn't make gaffes. he makes calculate and smart comments made to be seen as gaffes. no, i don't think we need to be blindly loyal and say that joe biden has never made a gaffe. i find that it humanizes him and it is a great hustler technique because it lowers expectations before a debate. there are a lot of smug republican brothers and sisters that are so certain that paul ryeand his ayn rand oops, not ayn rand vulcan ways with mop the floor with joe biden in the debate. i think you're going to see joe

biden have a great time. why one only one vice presidential debate? why only three presidential debates? we should have one debate every week from now until election day. people should know where barack obama and mitt romney stand on everything and they should have a dozen debates between now and election day. do we agree? >> yeah. i'm way more excited to see the vice presidential debates. i would watch that every day if it was on. >> i would too. why more excited for vice presidential debates? >> because joe biden looks like the kind of guy who might take a swing at his opponent. i know he wouldn't but i think it will be more feisty. i think barack obama is a cool, levelheaded guy. he won't use his temper. mitt romney is just boring and bland. but joe biden will mix it up. >> john: you might actually see the joe biden/paul ryan catholic fight which i would pay to see. i want to see paul ryan call joe biden out for supporting a woman's right to choose as a

catholic because then that opens the door for biden to call ryan out on abandoning the poor, supporting the iraq war supporting the death penalty three things the pope is very much against. i would also point out that it was in late 2011 that the pope came out and said that condom use is okay in some situations to prevent the spread of a.i.d.s. that got all of the headlines but the same week, pope benedict xvi came out and said all nations on earth have a moral responsibility to provide healthcare to their poorest residents, regardless of their ability to pay. the pope came out for socialized healthcare my friends the same kind of socialized healthcare our capitalist allies enjoy and the same kind of healthcare that paul ryan enjoys as a member of congress. i would love to see that debate. i think we're paying for -- i think everything should be on tv. the supreme court should be on pbs. public school classes should be available on the internet and i do think executions should be carried live on tv because americans deserve to see what they're paying for. especially all of you good catholics out there.

and yeah, the first presidential campaign with no wasps on the ticket. you've got a mormon, two catholics and then the president. how appalling for our protestant americans to realize if they don't like barack obama, he's the only guy on their team. it is going to be really interesting on a expertual level. you know what else is profoundly interesting on a spiritual level? dan henning and the "full court press." >> this is the "full court press." >> don't get used to this, dan! you don't usually get that. >> i'm going to enjoy the next two days. taylor swift is not getting off to a good start with her new boyfriend's family, the kennedys. the country star has been dating connor kennedy the grandnephew of the late ted and john f. kennedy and son of robert f. kennedy junior. she attended a relative's wedding last weekend without permission. the family specifically did not want taylor there because of the media attention that she would bring to the ceremony. she came anyway. the "boston herald" says mother of the bride vickie kennedy not happy at all.

>> a kennedy family doesn't want media attention at a family event? i do feel badly for connor losing his mother. here's my question. i'm happy he's found love in a tragic year. i wish him the best. if kanye west insults me publicly, does that that mean i can get a lot more fame and credibility? she's okay but when you look at country stars today i wouldn't put her in the top ten. >> i hope this kid is ready to be a number one single because all of her hits have been written about guys she's broken up with or broken up with her. >> john: is she that great? when lucinda williams can't get airplay but taylor swift -- >> she's not just a country star. she's what's called a crossover artist. she does well on the pop charts. >> john: she does both country and bland pop. >> john, don't talk music with dan. >> john: why is that? >> i'm not going to fight. i'm a pop culture -- >> he loves it.

>> i like nickelback. >> john: that works as birth control in some communities. here is my question about country music. i agree with tom petty. tom petty said in a four hour documentary that done vich made about petty he said real country music, not what they call country music today which is basically bad rock with a fiddle. i think country and hip-hop are on the same, exact arc. two uniquely american art forms that came out of poverty. they came out of struggle that created a great lyrical art form that united people that eventually got co-opted by corporate music slime bags and now are dribble on the radio. if you want to hear good hip-hop or good country, you have to dig so deep to find the good stuff because in both cases both types of music 90% of what's on the radio is commercial garbage. do you agree? >> thank you. johnny cash couldn't get airplay the last 20 years of his life on national radio. >> good point. a major league baseball umpire

is being credited with saving the life of an arizona diamondbacks employee. jim joyce was walking around the stadium a couple of hours before a game monday night when he noticed someone having a seizure. espn he promptly started cpr and helped save the woman's life. he was thanked by the team. many fans will remember this was the same umpire -- bad call robbed a detroit pitcher of his perfect game two years ago. >> john: that's true. oh, god, i remember that. i'm glad to see that umpire is getting good press and they're not all bludgeoning their husbands to death with blunt instruments. >> yeah, really. >> john: how do you know if someone is having a seizure if cpr is what they need. >> i assume she was passed out and not breathing. >> john: that's beyond a seizure. >> i think she seized then stopped seizing and then stopped breathing. >> thank you dr. henning. >> john: the umpire blew a perfect game but then saves a

life. >> a buckingham palace spokesperson confirmed the photos of harry neighbored in las vegas are -- >> did he confirm it? >> he did not say anything more. just that the prince was on a private holiday and would return soon. the british press of course has all lies on the royal family who are certainly embarrassed by this incident. >> john: how embarrassing. the fact that they're really german, isn't it? >> no reprimand from grandma queen yet. >> john: you're the pop culture guy. are you one of the americans who finds the royal family interesting? >> no. i don't follow them but i mean i think what harry is doing is hilarious. >> john: i like prince william a lot. he seems like a decent guy. they lost their mother tragically young. harry, they're embarrassed over this? people call joe biden a gaffe machine. google prince phillip racist comments and then you've got his

brother, the future fake king. i would be more embarrassed at being a meaningless figure head monarch than my brother had a good time in vegas. i'm grateful that prince harry has big hands. you know what i'm talking about. really, he's the victim here. i don't feel bad for him. i feel bad for prince harry. i think the villain here is whoever took the pictures and leaked them. >> i don't feel bad for harry. he was having a good time. >> john: i would use what little influence i have get the tower of london open. >> i married a british person. >> john: did you really? >> did i. we were talking about this last night. she was saying you know, he's a prince. everybody wants to be a prince so you can do crap like this. >> john: a prince acting like royalty. >> it is not like running for office. he's a spoiled prince. >> john: once you've shown up to an event dressed in ss nazi

regalia, it is really tough to top it okay? >> there's that. >> john: there's nothing he could do in afghanistan or vegas. you've gone to a party dressed as a guy who bombed your country. you can't top that. so this is just amateur stuff. i think it is a step down for prince harry in the gaffe department but thank you very much. >> you're welcome. i'm going to go listen to nickelback. see you later. >> john: i don't have a problem with nickelback. i'm not a as soon as possible. duke ellington said about music if it sounds good, it is. that's what i care about. let's get audio of what's going on in the news. i would love to spend the entire time calling out paul ryan for his incredible hypocrisy on ayn rand and his incredible hypocrisy on healthcare or christianity but right now let's talk a little bit about the two guys in the top of the ticket. here's the president campaigning yesterday. >> obama: his plan would cut aid to ten million students, turn student loans back over to big

banks wasting billions of dollars in taxpayer money. >> john: fox and friends flipped out about this. why is the president talking about education instead of the economy. here's the thing about people on the right. and i love republicans. i do. i don't love who they vote for. if you voted for george w. bush, you don't get to complain about deficits ever! okay? if you supported the iraq war you don't get to complain about deficits ever! if you voted for george w. bush in 2004 after four years of him not balancing a budget once, you don't get to complain about the national debt ever! it is a very simple game. and if you've liked george w. bush's facebook page, you don't get to complain about anything in this economy ever! barnacle on the dinghy of democracy. you helped cause the problem and blaming obama for this economy my friends is like blaming your hangover on the guy making breakfast. if your captain hit the rescue boat, you don't -- if your captain hit the iceberg, you don't get to badmouth the rescue

boat. not to be outdone by the president's comments in education. governor romney hit back. >> romney: if you want to invest in young people. first of all, you need to make sure our k-12 schools are getting better. that's number one. not just talk but actually getting better. make sure we create jobs in this country so people coming out of school can get a good job. >> john: you know how you make education better? you stop cutting funding for it and you stop making teacher's unions into the bad guys who tank your economy when it is your own aristocracy who did it, mittens. it is amazing to hear a party who has consistently abandoned public education time and time again from no child left behind and the horrible voucher programs that are designed only to starve public education in this country. their idea of fixing public education is to abandon it and give your kids taxpayer-funded vouchers to send them to private

christian schools so they can use evolutionism. if i was president, i would be launching money at schools out of a cannon right now. if you're a patriot if you care about the long-term strength of your country you want the most educated population possible. we know tragically enough, our friends on the right don't want that. so here's governor romney. i like this clip because here he pulls off the very rare double flip-flop. listen. >> romney: president obama bless his heart has tried to subsubstitute government for free people and it will never work. >> john: first off it makes no sense. try to substitute government for free people. now don't we have a government because we want it to be free people? isn't that the essence -- i'm talking to you peter. we have a government in this country because we want ited to be free and not end up under british rule. >> that's correct. >> john: saying you want to substitute government for free people is like saying i want to substitute high drox for oreos.

this is the great double flip-flop of romney. i like his double flip-flops like on issues of marriage equality more than anything. but it is the bless his heart comment. can you play that one more time, peter? >> president obama bless his heart has tried to substitute government for free people and it has not work and it will never work. >> john: now remember mitt romney began his campaign by coming out and talking about how president obama's a great guy. he's just in over his head. he's an incompetent. how do you get both? you listen to hannity and you'll get -- president obama's an evil socialist mastermind genius and an incompetent boob in over his head. things can coexist peaceful will i in sean hannity's world. michele bachmann gets to be opposed to gay marriage and be in one. for romney to say that barack obama is in over his head last month then it was all about how evil the president is. this campaign of hate.

this was two weeks ago. >> campaign of hate. >> john: obama's waging a campaign of hate. now he's saying president barack obama, bless his heart. which one is it going to be? i'm half southern. you had an interesting point. >> bless your heart i grew up in the south bless your heart is always following or preceding a terrible comment. bless her heart but man she's put on so much weight, she can't fit into that dress anymore or bless his heart he's so dumb he doesn't know well enough to blow hot soup. >> john: you're saying in terms of pity. governor romney is flip-flopping. which one is it going to be. this is why i have to call you reversible mittens. please call us at 1-866-55-press. that's 1-866-55-press. send me your tweets. my name is john fuglesang. so thrilled to be here on the "bill press show" on your radio and current tv. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: good morning. it is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill with you all morning and taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. some great guests today. karl frisch of bullfight strategies will be joining us as well as lora bass of "huffington post" and from catholics united, the executive director, james

salt i interviewed him on governor spitzer's show who is quite brilliant. i'm john fuglesang. i will be hosting my own prime time show on current tv later this fall. i would tell you more but then they would have to kill me. you may have heard this, the "wall street journal," nbc news poll. 0% of african-americans are going for mitt romney. statistically, he's polling at zero among african-americans. which would be troubling if african-americans were still going to be able to vote this year. >> that seems high. that seems like a high number. >> it seems low to me. i thought we had 1% of completely self-loathing insane african-americans in this country. i don't want to believe caucasians are that much more dysfunctional than our african-american brothers and sisters. barack obama has a 35-point lead with latino voters. mitt romney, as el gringo loco has not caught fire.

you cannot win america with less than 40% of the latino vote. i don't know what mitt is going to do. maybe he will dump paul ryeand a make shakira his running mate. he is leading with latinos black folks. romney is enjoying a comfortable lead among nonmillionaire white people who think millionaires have had it rough for a long time. good morning charlene. you're on the "bill press show." >> caller: good morning. >> john: what a pleasure. >> caller: would you like my comment? >> john: i sure would. that's why i have you on. >> caller: i saw this program on the science channel sorry i didn't see it on current tv but it was donald trump -- oh my god. hosting what is america worth. >> john: charlene, they're telling me i have to go to break. can you hold on? we'll come back with your comments on the "bill press

show" right after this. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >>since when do you get to say stuff like that on tv? >> listen, if you'd read your email once in a while, you'd know i have a new show. (vo) always outspoken. >> you think because this is an election year you can just say anything? >> hello! say anything, that's the name of the show.

>> john: in spite of overwhelmingly popular demand, i'm thrilled to be joining you here at ungodly o'clock in the nation's capital. i will be joined in a moment by catholics united executive director james salt who i'm thrilled to have here. i want to take the rest of charlene's call from tampa florida. are you still there? >> caller: yes. and the main point is the

republicans want to make a big deal out of the economy and this small deficit and according to donald trump america is worth between 238 and $288 trillion and $14 trillion is nothing compared -- we have plenty of collateral. and i just -- you know, i know it is a ploy by the republicans to take our minds away from the important issues and that's my point. >> john: charlene, do you know who was the last republican budget to ever balance a budget once, do you? >> caller: oh, my gosh. i don't. >> john: everyone in bill press' audience needs to know. this will come in handy at thanksgiving dinner. the last g.o.p. president to ever balance a budget once, do you know, james? >> i don't know. >> john: richard nixon was the

last one to ever be allowed to call himself a conservative. the last g.o.p. president to ever have a surplus was eisenhower and that happened because eisenhower believed in taxing the rich at a higher rate. thank you for your call. eisenhower is also a huge socialist by continuing that socialist g.i. bill and his extremely socialist interstate highway plan. i can talk about socialism because you're catholic and the catholic church was founded by a guy, if he came back today would be called a socialist. >> you're exactly right. >> james salt is the executive director of catholics united. i'm thrilled to have you here. when i filled in for governor spitzer a couple of weeks ago on current tv, i was honored to have you as a guest. now that we have you as a guest we have two vice presidential nominees who are catholics. i think there have been two catholics on opposing tickets. i think it is more relevant than ever to talk about what this faith believes, what the church teaches and what the church teaches versus what jesus stood

for which is something catholics don't often want to go into. that applies to all of our christian brothers and sisters and all of our brothers and sisters as well. can you tell the folks what catholics united does? >> yeah, catholics united is a national progressive catholic organization. we want to promote the teachings on justice and the common good. we try to get our 45,000 members engaged in the public debate so our moral values debate in this country isn't controlled or dominated by the far right. we want more balance more actual representation of what jesus actually wants catholics and people of faith to be focused on. >> john: that's interesting because that's one of my favorite things about the far right fundamentalist christians is these are the people who want to worship jesus as a god. that's a lot easier to do than follow his extremely consistently liberal teachings. and there is no one more incont extently liberal than jesus. i could never be as liberal as

jesus was if i tried. when people ask me if i'm christian, i say. >> i spire to be because i don't think i could be as selfless and loving and forgiving and compassionate as the guy this religion was named for. and yet somehow as america was found by revolutionaries i find the same is true in the vatican. founded by radical revolutionaries. the acts of the apostles is a blueprint for socialism. not obama care. apostles is a blueprint for a system of opt-in communism. don't take my word for it, kids, check it out. how do you think james, a radical reformer, an activist, a revolutionary like jesus came to be the figure head for so many people who are now fighting for the wealthiest and most privileged among us? >> it is hard to answer that question. what comes to my mind is the corrupting influence of power and religion.

and that as religious leaders get more focused on accruing power than actually living out a life that's consistent with the teachings of jesus it shows a hypocrisy of faith. and in fact, if you actually ask millennials today those who were born after 1976, i believe the single word association with religious leader is hypocrite because people no longer see religious leaders as authentic expression of faith but rather of something i believe that's missed. something that's said but not acted on. and i think of that quote. >> john: i have a line in my stand-up act i view jesus as elvis. i love the guy but some of the fan clubs freak me out. in the case of the vatican it has become more about

perpetuating its own power and eminence and keeping its importance established much more so than following the teachings of christ. i give them a lot of credit. no one's done more on poverty i would say worldwide any organization than the vatican. however, they could settle a painting and feed lange la desh. the pope doesn't need all of the damn rings on his finger and jesus would never see the opulence. van gogh was considered a disgrace because he slept on the floor like the poor and that made priests look bad. this is a religion founded by a guy who was all about poverty and embracing poverty and they live in this giant city castle. the vatican has done more than anyone to fight the death penalty. the vatican has done more than anyone i would say on a grand scale to oppose war like the war in iraq. a lot of people don't want to admit it was both john paul and benedict were both 100% against that war talking to you paul ryan. so why is it that when we think about the catholic church, is it just the love of power that we think of hypocrisy. that we think of -- you know,

right wing demagogues who are really more concerned with their own earthly riches than making things more on earth than it is in heaven. >> you know, i think about what motivated me to get into public life. why did i give my life to work for faith-based social change. and it is because i came around of age when you know, the bishops were talking about economic justice. they were talking about racial justice. they were talking about ending the nuclear arms race. >> john: yeah. >> and today, it seems completely focused on sexual identity issues whether it is contraception, whether it is gay identity, whether it abortion and it seems like the bishops have migrated, as a body, away from very core teachings of jesus. i think about dorothy day and thomas murton and mahatma ghandi, folks who lived their lives and preached their truths

by behaving in ways of complete consistency, of walking with those on the front lines of poverty. and to me, that captured my imagination and said i can do this too. and be part of this wonderful tradition. >> john: that's who jesus was. he hung out with the poor. he was a long haired hippy who was all about the less fortunate and disdained wealth and those who lived in comfort. which will bring us to paul ryan eventually. i do want to talk about paul ryan with you. you mentioned dorothy day who is a great hero and someone who i think is in danger of being forgotten by folks. but you know, it is the sex thing really. it is the sex thing i think that's hurting the catholic church the most on three levels. number one, the gay thing which is not supported by scripture. jesus never said a damn thing about gaye people. he talked about monster trucks as much as he talked about the gays. the hypocrisy business on celibacy. none of that comes from the

bible. our first pope, st. peter was married. all of the priests and popes and bishops for over 1,000 years were married. it wasn't until 1139 a. d. that celibacy was made the law of the church not because sex is bad or because jesus was a bachelor but because the church didn't want priests and popes leaving land and wealth to their kids. it is a system based on greed. the female priest to think that 51% of the world population is unfit to serve in his church. that's the old roman adage of no knob, no job. these are the things more so than abortion which i respect. i respect people opposed to abortion as long as they're also opposed to the death penalty war and euthanasia. these are the things that are marginalizing the catholic church and run the risk of turning it into a third world religion. >> i agree. i look at jerry falwell and pat robertson. i see their legacy has been passed on to the catholic bishops of today. i look at bishop lurie.

the bishops are more known for their reactionary politics on marginal issues. had a really -- that are really driving catholics further right rather than being authentic pastors of the faith. >> i agree completely. when we look at what they're doing with the nuns as well. it is equally appalling. cracking down on nuns for not talking more about abortions and premarital sex. three things jesus never talked about or focused on at all. and they crack down on american nuns for teaching reiki healing and practicing reiki healing. when you're a church founded on a guy who laid his hands on people so they would feel better, where do you get off cracking down on nuns for reiki healing. we have you here for the full half hour. i'm thrilled. we're on the line. we'll be taking your calls with james salt, executive director of catholics united here on the "bill press show." the number is 1-866-55-press. tweet me at john fuglesang. whether you're a damaged

catholic or just a concerned bystander, we want to know your thoughts. atheist brothers and sisters are always welcome and we will be right back. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." in on full court press with bill press. >> i love jesus, it's just that i view jesus the way i view elvis. i love the guy, but a lot of the fan clubs tend to freak me out. (vo) john fugelsang will be back tomorrow morning starting at 6 eastern.

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does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help. >>it's the place where democracy is supposed to be the great equalizer, where your vote is worth just as much as donald trump's.

we must save the country. it starts with you. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill today and tomorrow. what a pleasure to be here with you on one of my favorite news

talk radio shows on all of radio and now tv as well. i'm joined by one of my favorite guests to have any time, anywhere, james salt, executive director of catholics united. thank you for joining us. we got a tweet from dodie girl who says one of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. do you think that's true? that morality has been hijacked by religion? i think the truth is that religion has been hijacked by hypocrisy. >> i would suggest that as well. moral truth and morality is incredibly important in defining what is right and what is wrong. and faith -- >> but you don't need religion for that. >> you don't need religion to do that. but religion certainly calls people to something outside of themselves which is incredibly important. >> john: that's the difference when religion becomes about smug complacency and keeping my side comfortable, it is tribalism. that's what we're seeing a lot here is that i pray to this god

and my god's got a bigger -- than your god so i can't be wrong. that's the problem with fundamentalism. if you're a fundamentalist of any faith, let's say in christianity in this country you know you're on god's side. you no he that god is with you so if someone disagrees with you, they've gotta be on the side of satan. you're not going to sit down with an emissary of satan and negotiate school curriculums. we want to talk to some folks who aren't fans of religion because they make some very good points. let's go to larry from niagara falls. you're on with james salt. >> caller: good morning. i've kind of been watching you and appreciate your levelheaded and decent approach to trying to deal with a serious problem. but my concern is a bystand -- as a bystander is that religion has become an issue that has become the problem instead of any way of becoming a solution. joan i totally agree with you it

has become a problem. i do think that religion can be the solution. why do you think it can't be? >> caller: because they've been trying it for the last 2,000 years just for openers. now what needs to happen is that the people need to realize that they need to support a framework, maybe democracy maybe some other form of government that allows an exchange of viewpoints and interests that are in the interest of promoting the human condition and the human potential. all the rest of this, these interests where people try to figure out how many angels on the head of a pin or how many virgins are there available to someone who -- this is insane. >> john: i hear what you're saying. i thank you for the call. however i think you can't underscore and back me up on this james we can't underestimate the amount of good religion has done. it was christians who propped up slavery. it was christians who ended slavery. would you agree?

>> yes. i think for many of the civil rights campaigns of the 20th century, the faith community was on the vanguard of resisting the oppressive conditions of the south, liberating women and giving them the right to vote. time and time again greenpeace was founded by quakers. environmental activists. there is something i do believe inherent in religious belief and faith that calls people to something extraordinary and whether that's used for good or bad is up for debate. but there has been, i believe a very positive influence of religion in our public life. unfortunately, just -- >> john: i wouldn't see the positive influence all that much lately. it has been co-opted by the right. now i'm of the belief that when people talk about you know, oh, religion was responsible for all of the war and all of the rape

and oppression of women and violence -- here's what i say to that. not religion. fundamentalist right wing religion because the more to the right you are of any faith the more you're going to be one of the guys causing the problems and here's what i have boiled it down to. you might be a fundist if -- you embodies these five traits. you're smarter than me, james. most people are but i went to one of those public schools mitt romney calls third world. five points that make. >> fundist. number one hating the gay thing. the more far right you are i don't care, hindu, jew, muslim, the more you hate the gays. number two suppression of women. if you follow the bible to the letter, women aren't allowed to speak in church in the mormons still hold to that. of course, we know our fundist right wing muslim brothers do the same thing. number three the sex thing. the sex hangups st. paul was a guy with all of the sex hangups in the new testament, not jesus. whatever your faith is, the more to the right are you the more sex hangups. number four, other religions are

inferior. number five, violence is okay if my side does it because god's on my side. so again, violence is okay. other religion is inferior, the sex thing, the gay thing the women thing. those unite all of the fundists of every major religion. i say time and time again, it is not religious people. it is right wing conservatives the overwhelming majority of christians jews and muslims are getting along fine right now today. would you agree with that statement? >> i do agree with that statement. i studied bible with dan in the upper west side in new york while the towers were coming down on 9-11. i was there walking with dan barrigan this great priest who taught plea to read the bible with new eyes. and taught me to learn about defining sin and who defines sin is power. and whether or not -- whether or

not god would be violent in the world today. understanding and reading if for the first time with new eyes, you see how frank and honest the actual texts are with how we are to live in the world. >> john: god is not exactly anti-war. we'll talk about that when we come back. i think martin sheen is the modern barrigan brother. we'll be back with your calls right after this. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: good morning. it is "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. we only have a minute left with the brilliant and evolved james salt of catholic united. tell me your paul ryan story really quick. >> if you google paul ryan bible. you'll get. >>tube clip. i went to the ralph reed convention the who's who of religious right and all of the talking heads from the republican party show up and tout their morality. this is right after paul ryan introduces devastating budget that takes 62% of cuts from the poor and working people. when we showed up with a bible to ask paul ryan some questions and you know, he didn't. to talk to us. we followed him out the door. i said congressman ryan, i have a question for you. i'm a catholic. you're a christian. why did you model your budget on the extreme ideology of ayn rand. >> how can people see it? >> it is on youtube. >> john: thank you james

salt. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show." on your radio and current tv. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill. we have an exciting show still left. karl frisch of bullfight strategies will be joining us as well as lora bassett of "the huffington post." all of that is nothing but an appetizer. right now i have the exclusive privilege of bringing you the luminous, the brilliant the ayatollah of rock n' roller, the

awe-inspiring lisa ferguson with a current news update. >> good morning, everyone. both the president and mitt romney are weighing in on a new cbo report spelling bad news for the economy. according to the congressional budget office, the country will spiral into another recession unless congress comes to an agreement on tax hikes and budget cuts set to take place in january. that is when the bush tax cuts expire and it is what economists are calling the fiscal cliff. we have known consequences would be bad if we go over the edge. now we're learning it is much worse than expected. unless congress acts soon, we're looking at two million people losing their jobs and a 9.1% unemployment rate by the end of next year. romney is calling the report unacceptable and says he'll cut federal spending and encourage growth. but republicans have threatened to let the country go over the cliff unless they get what they want and that of course is tax

breaks for the wealthy. president obama and other democrats say that is the real problem and that it is time to raise taxes on the rich to help close the deficit. the fed is prepping its own recovery plan and could launch a new bond-buying program in september. the goal there is to lower interest rates and spark more borrowing and spending but some economists say that will not do any good and the fed needs to save its ammo for next year in case congress does nothing. a quick side note. the anti-obama documentary 2016 obama's america is doing incredibly well at the box office. it is based on a book who "the young turks" interviewed here this week on current. if you want to check that one out, go to current.com and while you're there, you can join us in chat. we're at current.com/billpress. coming up with john, we've got karl frisch of bullfight strategies. see you soon.

we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." now filling in for bill, here's john fuglesang. >> john: thank you disembodied bill press voice. i'm john fuglesang, honor and humble to be with you for the last hour of the "bill press show." i'll be here tomorrow as well. i'm a big fan of current tv. i will be hosting my own prime time series on current tv later on this fall. it is a real honor to be here with a show that kicks off the whole day for the network.

i would like to thank james salt. a pretty brilliant guy. he had to leave really quickly. we ran low on time. if you want to see him chasing down paul ryan with a bible asking paul ryan to justify his budget as a catholic, google paul ryan and bible and you'll find it. and you can also find james' web site. catholics -- united.org. catholics-united.org. recently paul ryan always the biggest ayn rand fan in the world said oh no, i never liked ayn rand. that's an urban myth. please ignore the tons and tons of evidence saying how much i loved her. ayn rand of course who famously said an embryo has no rights. now paul ryan, i'm going to say this to cap off the catholic part of the show has been saying his real idol, his real philosopher is thomas aquinas. i found that interesting on a spiritual level because thomas eye kiwanes a said "man should not consider his material

possession his own but as common to all so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need." can you imagine if barack obama had said his number one influence was a man who said there's no such thing as private property? you know what they would call him? what i'm going to call paul ryan right now. a communist! that's right paul ryan. if you really say that thomas aquinas is your highest role model, you have no respect for private party and the republican party should drum you right out. can i get a hell, yeah? >> hell, yeah! >> john: thank you gentlemen. that means it is time for the "full court press." >> on this thursday, other headlines -- >> john: can i interrupt? he's sitting right here. karl frisch of bullfight strategies is in the room. hi karl. have you sitting here doing nothing. >> i'm taking notes like sunday school. this is the preinterview. i hope you enjoy it. >> there is drama around who's going to fill the third "american idol" judge chair.

>> it's me. >> john: someone has to decide which person does an impression of mariah carey. >> randy jackson and mariah carey and a hollywood reporter says nicki minaj has been at the top of the list but i do not like nicki minaj. >> i would describe here in terms of hip-hop, i would say she's legitimate rap. she's a case of legitimate rap. >> i agree. it is amazing how that works. i find one mainstream artist i really really like and dan doesn't like her. >> i didn't say i liked her. >> john: i do like her. >> i like her. >> john: i don't know how she's going to play this career out for ten years. >> i don't like her as a judge on "american idol." >> john: i think once you use auto tune, you don't ever get to judge in "american idol." >> mariah carey when she heard about the rumor saying she thought she would be the only

woman. she wants nothing to do with nicki minaj. >> is that true? >> john: that's just a rumor. >> it is a rumor being reported. >> some people say. >> john: i think there's nothing greater than picking rock stars for a game show. that's great for art by the way. >> the other rumor that popped up yesterday is a possible judge, kanye west. >> i don't want to interrupt or anything but he would be the best judge of all time. >> kanye west was a judge, he would be the best judge of all time and i would watch that show unfailingly because kanye west, he may be a jack ass like the president says but he's a genius jack ass. his records sound fantastic. watch the throne with jay-z and my beautiful dark twisted fantasy. die agree with a lot of kanye's personal choices but my god sonicically, kanye west could be the phil spector of the hip-hop era. >> i hope it doesn't end the same way.

>> i agree. kanye is more misogynist. >> he won't chain ronnie to a radiator. but still. >> phil has a better afro. >> the obama campaign continues to make plans to stay in the spotlight during the republican convention along with joe biden making the trip to tampa first lady michiganel obama will appear on the late show with david letterman wednesday night the same evening paul ryan is delivering his convention speech. cbs says mrs. obama will talk about school lunch programs and back to school stuff. >> that's what she'll talk about on letterman. >> how is paul ryan going choose between back to school tips from michelle obama and doing his own speech? >> john: give michelle obama question. is it fair to say that michelle obama is the first hot first lady at least of the photographic age? because i'm sure grover cleveland's wife was a babe. she was much younger. she was his ward. grover cleveland was 300 pounds and married his very tiny young

ward who he had raised which was considered creepy at the time. >> considered creepy now. >> john: headlines at the time were terrified he would crush his bride on their wedding night however she gave birth in the white house while he was in office and their baby was named ruth and that's where we got the baby ruth candy bar. she was hot but she was pre-tv. is michelle obama the first hot first lady. >> what about kennedy? >> jacqueline kennedy was beautiful. i wouldn't say she was hot. >> i'm more of a president buchanan secret life partner kind of guy. [ laughter ] >> john: let's talk about him. >> abraham lincoln's secret service agent. >> john: lincoln wasn't gay. james buchanan probably was. the press called him aunt fancy. in the 1850s, the press called president buchanan aunt fancy. >> he was one of the worst presidents we've ever had.

>> i want to go on record, don't let that hold you back from electing another gay president. >> he was closeted so he doesn't count. he might not have been gay. >> he would have been a great president if he was out of the president. >> he would be a horrible president because you can have incompetent gay men. just look at ken mehlman. go on. >> the mars rover took its first test drive. >> no one answered my question. is michelle obama the first hot -- >> i said kennedy. >> i would say yes. >> nothing against you rosalyn carter. you're fine. but seriously gentlemen, on a testosterone level, the woman is gorgeous. >> mars rover took its first test drive on the planet. curiosity successfully drove ten feet, turned right backed up a couple of feet. the one ton rover theof a small sports car tops out at .08 miles per hour. >> john: if the turn signal would stay on, it is ready for orlando. they just released the audio of the mars rover landing. it is pretty amazing if you want to hear something fantastic of

the booster rockets. it is incredible how they were able to get it there so fast and slow it down without blowing up in the atmosphere. >> when you look at the images, you have to expect joe arpaio to jump up and put a fence around it and look for the birth certificate because it looks like arizona. >> i've actually been to that prison. i did a show with bill maher in the maricopa county jail. they had a comedian on every night. they had huguely and spade and cross. and i got to meet sheriff joe arpaio. i can still smell the sulfur. if you want to talk about dark-hearted men and that prison is all about humiliation. we used to call prisons penitentiaries where men would go to reflect on what they had done. it is about humiliation in making the men wear pink underwear and making them dress like the hamburglar. and camp outside in tent where is it gets cold at night. the overwhelming majority of inmates in his county jail are

nonviolent drug offenders. so take that with you won't you? is that it? >> that's it. >> john: thank you so much. what a pleasure. karl i'm sorry we're out of time but it has been great having you. let me introduce our guest properly now. one of my favorite pundits and journalists, last month i was performing with stephanie miller and aisha tyler, i'm sorry in june, i had the honor of doing the sexy liberal tour with stephanie miller and aisha tyler. we were very honored to have the show filmed by current tv for an upcoming documentary on the tour and more honored to have the tour, that date announced and kicked off by a very special guest who came on stage to welcome the crowd, that would be the brilliant karl frisch of bullfight strategies. welcome to the "bill press show." >> it was my honor. for those who haven't been to a sexy liberal. they're great being able to see all of the different progressives and get a good laugh. people can go to new york.

october 27th. >> john: are you correct. >> beacon theatre in new york city. >> john: it hasn't been just the most popular political comedy tour ever and it was the first political album ever to hit number one on the amazon charts but it also turned into a social networking service for progressives or let's just say sane people who aren't evil in their communities where you can come and realize hey i'm not alone. we were playing last weekend at the capital theatre in columbus. and honestly, the best part about doing that tour for me is the caliber of audience. you can't really do political material in most comedy clubs unless you're a headliner. generally, you can't. people don't want to hear politics. >> most people aren't tuned in every day. >> john: they're not tuned in, karl. i lived in l.a. for years. they're proud to not be tuned in. are you mad about the economy? >> i don't listen to hip-hop bro. the sexy liberal has been great because stephanie is brilliant.

i love her audience and the radio community she's created but also it is great for people to realize that you know, you can feel like you're crazy sometimes with your right wing neighbor with the bald eagle fetish or your conservative christian lady in the next cubicle who thinks jesus liked the death penalty or your homophobic cousin who comes over. you can feel like you're crazy and it is so great to be part of a show that is not just an entertainment show but also about community building so it was really great to have you there and i hope you appreciated how much the crowd loved seeing you. >> it was great. >> john: you've become quite a media celebrity. >> thanks to bill and stephanie and everybody else who has had me on their shows over the years. it is a great time. >> john: i'm hoping we have a lot more sexy liberal dates. if you would like to see the show call stephanie miller and harass her because we have to twist her arm to get her to do more. we're on doing seattle at the end of september and the beacon theatre in new york which i hope everybody comes to. it will be great at the end of october.

so it was great having you on stage. i got to meet you through stephanie's show. i've become a big fan of the work you do. >> thank you. >> john: i was a really big fan of the piece you wrote this week about this current abortion controversy. >> this is ridiculous we got sidetracked on todd akin to the degree in which we did. >> john: why is that ridiculous? >> because we're acting like this is unusual for republican to say something like this. >> john: sidetracked or is it getting back on track? >> perhaps it is getting back on track if we can actually get to talk about the rest of the republican party and how they feel about women. but for the first several days of the story all it was about was todd akin said this horrible thing and he did say something horrible, the comments about rape were unjustifiable. unscientific and horrible in general. but his views are the views of the vast majority of republicans in washington and congress. it took two days for people to even bother mentioning that paul ryan had cosponsored legislation

with this guy to redefine the term rape. >> that would be of course sr3 the personhood bill? >> yeah. in the house. i think it was that number. but yeah, it was the -- in part, the personhood bill and defunding any money that goes to people who provide abortion services. >> john: let me ask you about that. i thought the hyde amendment in the '70s guaranteed no federal money would ef ger to abortions. >> right so if you're a right wing conservative nut he look at the money that goes to planned parenthood toward all kinds of services from cancer screenings to contraceptives -- >> std prevention. >> 3% of the overall budget, not the money they get from the government goes toward abortion services. >> this would be the same planned parenthood that mitt romney and ann romney gave thousands to back in the '90s. >> right and put members of the organization on the board of romney care in massachusetts. >> john: romney care which does cover abortions unlike obama care? >> that's right.

so when you look at the record though the ryan and romney and broader g.o.p. are just as bad as todd akin. and the only reason you had all of these republicans like mitt romney and paul ryeand everybody else saying akin should step aside had nothing to do with what he said. >> john: it had to do with one element, the anti-science element of what he said, not the anti-woman element of what he said. he embarrassed them with his ludicrous comments that a woman's body would self-abort and self-terminate a pregnancy if she had been raped. that's the part that they -- that they're using as cover. >> it is all cover. the science thing is cover. these people don't believe in science or they certainly don't legislate like they believe in science. >> john: do they believe in science but they act this way? >> part of that but which is worse? what is worse? racism or acting on the fears of

raises. >> john: i don't think romney is a homophobe. i think he's a calculating nonbigot. as far as paul ryan, i want to play a clip we played earlier in the show. this is clip number two. this is paul ryan not answering a question. can you play that for me, peter? >> should abortions be available to women who are raped? >> well, look, i'm proud of my pro-life record and i stand by my pro-life record in congress. it is something i'm proud of but mitt romney is the top of the ticket and mitt romney will be president and he will set a policy of the romney administration. >> is that the answer you give every time you disagree with your running mate? >> john: is that the answer you give when you don't want to give an answer? he's essentially saying no. >> people need to understand what personhood means because it is something that mitt romney and paul ryan both support. and i don't know how anybody can square away -- romney will say that he is pro-life except in

cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in jeopardy. if you support personhood legislation that doesn't allow for those instances. what personhood does for people who have never heard of it because they don't spend their time thinking about these things personhood defines life at conception so the second a human egg is fertilized, what that means is various types of birth control would be outlawed. it means that doctors -- >> john: the kind of births romney's kids had. >> doctors who perform in vitro fertilization could be brought up on criminal charges because they could accidentally murder a human life. women who have a miscarriage. when they're trying to deal with the carnage it has on their emotions after that, they might have to go through medical exams to make sure they didn't cause the miscarriage themselves. >> john: you know what else it means? if life begins at conception, you should be able to drink at age 20 years and three months. karl frisch from bullfight strategies.

this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill on your radio and on current tv. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: welcome back to the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. and you know, if you were planning on going down to the republican convention in tampa next week, karl frisch, it is going to be just like vietnam because rush limbaugh, george bush and dick cheney won't be there. >> i can't think of anything worse than being in tampa in august and having to listen to

mitt romney. >> john: how about with a hurricane on top? >> they'll have to come up with some other reason that the hurricane struck tampa because pat robertson isn't going to say it struck because the republicans are there. maybe it is because of go proud having a party. >> john: he said that hurricane gloria hit in long island because we didn't pray hard enough. i've had a very special place in my heart for pat robertson. >> he came out in favor of marijuana legalization. >> john: that's only way you can watch 700 club. my mom's cousin was married by pat robertson. he performed my mom's cousin's marriage. i do have a connection to him. are you excited for the convention? >> i am. i was looking forward to seeing sarah palin speak but she's not speaking either. >> john: i think that's a mistake on their party. >> i do, too. it will be reimagining of the republican party. >> john: we're going to be joined by laura bassett of huff po right after this.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: i guess you know my feeling, too, is if there is going to be cyber warfare, i i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> john: that's a great song. dissidence by pearl jam. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill press. the "wall street journal," mitt romney enjoys 0% among african-americans. obama also has a 35-point lead with latino voters. mitt romney enjoys a healthy lead of nonmillionaires who think millionaires have had it rough for a long time. we're scroind by the great karl frisch of bullfight strategies. you can find him at

bullfightstrategies.com. thrilled to be joined by reporter laura bassett from "the huffington post" who i follow for quite a long time. you can follow her on twitter at lebassett. you have a great piece laura. welcome to the "bill press show." >> thank you. >> john: i want to get right into it. we've been talking about abortion and rape all day. as fun as it is to have men talking about abortion, let's have a token female to see if you have anything to add to this topic. >> raring to get in there. >> john: since we're in d.c., this is where men decide about abortion for women all the time. >> of course. >> john: your newest piece republicans for planned parenthood we're an endangered species. i've heard the minute tar of the mythical things called liberal and moderate republicans that existed in the '70s, someone named rockefeller. i didn't know republicans were allowed to say that planned parenthood isn't the open hole to hell. >> i found two unicorns. one of them -- both of them are

actually prominent republicans in their communities and one sits on the board at planned parenthood and an affiliate of new york and the other is the president of planned parenthood. and they're frustrated, of course, because they're moderate republicans. >> john: they're what? >> it is something called a moderate republican. >> john: karl? >> friggin' rhinos. should be in our party. >> john: hot ice or jumbo shrimp or ke$ha music. >> legitimate rape how about. yeah, so they believe that family planning is actually economically beneficial to the country. every dollar spent on family planning saved $4 in medical costs you would have to spend on medicaid for these babies coming into the world that their mothers can't afford or don't want or whatever. they believe in birth control. they want these things -- they want the personhood amendment. they want absence on education out of the g.o.p. platform.

they want funding for family planning in. and they sound pretty reasonable. >> based on my dictionary, that is technically the conservative point of view, isn't it? long-term planning for the good of the american people? >> who signed the title ten family planning program into law? it was president nixon. >> john: mm-hmm. exactly. >> he made it a national goal for poor women to be able to access family planning. it was a national goal back then. >> john: nix son began the e.p.a. and was the last republican president to ever balance the budget. he would not be allowed to be in the party again. the republican party will never ever allow abortion to become illegal because abortion is the single greatest fund-raising tool they've got. they'll trot these guys out to tell the social conservatives and pro-lifers what they want to hear but at the end of the day they're going to protect abortion rights because they'll lose a lot of fund-raising if abortion ever becomes illegal. i'll prove it. for six years the republican

party controlled the house the senate and the white house under president bush. from 2001 to 2007. they could have voted to defund planned parenthood and acorn and npr before breakfast on day one. they didn't. we also know the bush family never really was anti-abortion. george h. w. bush senior was for women's reproductive freedoms until the very day ronald reagan asked him to be his running mate and then flipped over. our pro-lifers who vote republican complete suckers or am i making too much of this? >> you know, it is interesting this evangelical wing that's taken over. i really think it is a reaction to obama care and a reaction to obama. suddenly these people are coming out of the woodwork and they're angry and upset because obama care is such a long, complicated document. they think that their healthcare costs are going to go up and they think they're forced to do this and that and it is freaking them out about social issues

that otherwise wouldn't necessarily have been at the forefront of the national conversation. but if you think about it, obviously what you're saying is if you want smaller government, if you want the government out of your life, why would you support the government writing laws that legislate your reproductive system? it doesn't make sense for a conservative. i don't understand it at all. >> john: it makes sense if you believe -- if your honest belief is a fetus -- that you're taking a human life. i respect that point of view by the way. i think those folks -- it is not consistent because jesus never mentioned abortion. >> letting people starve. >> john: the death penalty. there's no greater anti-death penalty in history than jesus. if there was none, he might still be around. >> i would disagree this is an ad from obama care. this is something growing in the republican party since the late '80s when communism started to fall away as a target enemy of the right and christian evangelicals led by pat

robertson in 1992. '88 through '92 started taking over congress and the state legislatures winning the congress in '94. what's interesting is they're going to have chris christie speak as the keynote speaker at the republican convention. he is socially moderate. i guarantee you he will not talk about any issues that make him socially moderate. in the eyes of the republican party. >> john: he will talk about how awful obama is for jobs despite that jersey has what -- 35 year low. >> deliver change on choice or gay rights is when the 35% of the republican party is smaller than the number of votes that they would gain by switching. and that's going to be a long while. >> john: i'm of the belief we don't actually have an abortion problem. we have an unwanted pregnancy problem. we have an abortion symptom. that's the real problem. and if these folks were serious about tackling this abortion symptom, we would get all your right-wingers and cardinal

dolans together with all of the progressives and say what are we going to do as a society to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies or as president clinton put it, make abortion safe, legal and rare. >> invest in family planning and invest in comprehensive sex education which is what republicans are opposing right now. which is why it doesn't make any sense. if you oppose abortion, you should be crop-dusting birth control all over the country. they're waging a war on birth control, too. >> and why? >> because the reason that they're against abortion is not some kind of secular morality where they just think that murder is wrong. >> those folks are out there too. pro-life atheist. >> it is because morality grounded in the religionosity which grounds their opposition to birth control. let's remember mitt romney, paul ryan both support getting rid of birth control. mitt romney said during the primary that he would allow the states to ban all forms of birth

control. >> john: yes, he did. this boggles my mind. i'm hung up on the being a jesus freak. jesus never mentioned birth control. no part in the bible does anyone say thou shall not wear a jimmy hat. taking care of the poor, the sick prisoners in jail, matthew 25 republicans. generally not big on starting violent fights or preemptive war. so really they're not doing this because of christian values. are they? >> then again jesus also didn't say that you couldn't set off a bomb with your cell phone because cell phones didn't exist. did abortion exist back then? did birth control exist? i don't know that that's a fair argument. jesus didn't say a lot of things about moral issues that weren't there back then. i see what you're seeing. one thing that's been interesting to me to watch is we have biden and ryan who is a

catholic. biden wants to help the poor. ryan want to protect fetuses. the one time that the catholic bishops have come out politically against the republicans in the past year is to condemn the ryan budget. because it balances the budget on the backs of the poor. >> john: and doesn't balance the budget. >> it claims to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and it ends up slashing programs to the poor. >> paul ryan would be 80 by the time it balances the budget. >> john: peter are we going to break? i don't know about the hand signals. it is really true. i guess i was so surprised in reading your article laura, i know we have to go to break in a second, but that you actually found conservatives who support planned parenthood. >> absolutely. which you know, as i pointed out as other people have pointed out, used to be a very conservative position up until

recently. >> let's not forget the romneys both mitt and ann gave thousands to planned parenthood. >> fund-raisers in 2002. romney sought planned parenthood's endorsement for his run for governor. and now he's saying he wants to get rid of all funding for planned parenthood. that's the politically en vogue thing to say. >> bush and the republicans didn't do it. the palin family supports unplanned parenthood. we'll be right back with laura bassett and karl frisch. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. do you share the sense of outrage that they're doing this, this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>i think that's an understatement, eliot. u>> i'm not prone tot. understatement, so explain to me why that is. i think the mob learned from wall st., not vice versa.

(vo) john fugelsang is filling in on full court press with bill press. >> i love jesus, it's just that i view jesus the way i view elvis. i love the guy, but a lot of the fan clubs tend to freak me out. (vo) john fugelsang will be back tomorrow morning starting at 6 eastern.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show" on your radio and current tv. i'm john fuglesang fill in for bill today and tomorrow. you'll be well sick of me but tune into stephanie later. it will be a great show today. thrilled to be joined by two terrific journalists here in the d.c. bureau. karl frisch of bullfight strategies and laura bassett. you can read her excellent work on "the huffington post" including the piece about republicans for planned parenthood and you have an excellent piece about how todd akin's abortion position completely represents the g.o.p. platform. the spontaneous abortion does not. that was a great embarrassment to republicans. that's what they're up in arms about. ideology and policywise, there is not a sliver of daylight between paul ryan and this guy. mary is on the phone from houston, texas. good morning mary.

>> caller: good morning, john, laura and karl. it is great to be with you. i'm calling to ask laura to please come to texas and talk to governor pompadour about ending the -- they're planning on ending the planned parenthood. we're big on the death penalty but not so much on the uterine -- the feet fetuses. please come and talk to the bible betters. they need to hear your message. >> i've called governor perry multiple times to try to ask him what he's trying to do over there with shutting down all of the women's health clinics. he was aiming at planned parenthood. it actually hit dozens of women's health clinics that are unaffiliated with planned parenthood that have to shut their doors. he claims he's going to make up for this major gap in poor women's healthcare by paying for it with obama care. except at the same time he has said that his state's not going to implement obama care so everyone is a little bit confused about what's going to happen there.

hopefully journalists can continue to take him to task on that. >> you're saying rick perry said something that's confusing? >> john: they want to get rid of obama care before it can run the risk of helping people. that would hurt them. virginia is calling from virginia. good morning virginia. >> caller: good morning. rabbi jesus would have known the place in the old testament that said until the fetus is born, it is not a person. >> john: that's true. there is a passage where moses was told if a woman is pregnant by a man who is not her husband there is a concoction she can drink that includes sawdust to take care of the problem. that's buried somewhere. i'll try get the actual quote for tomorrow. but you're right. i'm not saying jesus would support abortion. i am saying we know he was against the death penalty. >> caller: listen, down in south america, i heard about a tribe of indians who were so depressed about the way the world was going that they decided to drink a tea that they made from a plant that made all of the people who drank it

sterilized. i'm wondering is that like -- >> was it jolt cola? [ laughter ] >> john: thank you for horrifying me with that story. >> i thought it was pop rocks and dr. pepper. >> john: katie you're on with laura bassett and karl frisch. >> caller: good morning. i wanted to thank you john and laura, before you brought laura on for having a sane conversation about women's issues. it really is important for women to hear men talking about it very matter-of-factly and telling the truth. it is great to hear you. >> john: i'm glad you didn't thank karl. >> i don't mind using the word vagina. if i was a michigan state legislator, that might get me banned from speaking on the floor. >> get out of the studio now karl! >> john: how dare you say a dirty word about something i'm sure god is sorry he created.

>> karl has lots of fantastically funny but sane things to say. i'm in my early 30s so this incarnation of the war on women is the -- >> i think katie -- >> the war is over and they just got her. >> did they get to you? >> i thought that when this kind of started in february with the komen thing and this became public, it was mostly a lot of pandering to the religious right wing and all of that but the longer this goes on and this todd akin thing and the background on this position on legitimate rape and rape victims not being able to get pregnant i think it is just amazing at their ability to lie to themselves to reinforce whatever world view they've decided is convenient for them. this really is an attack on women. an attack on -- >> john: i think katie someone wants to talk to you. i thank you for the call. laura, how did you feel when you first heard this comment about legitimate rape? were you surprised after

forcible rape being written into the laws? >> no. i was not surprised at all which is the saddest part. i think my first tweet about this was that -- by focusing, by fixating on this comment you're missing the forest through the trees. this is a sort of common standpoint that a lot of republicans have taken. i was just telling one the break, senator chuck winer out of idaho says we should council women saying they have been raped to make sure they've actually been rape and that it is not just normal marital sex as women don't know the difference. >> a husband can never rape his wife. >> akin and ryan partnered to redefine rape. we've seen multiple instances of it. just yesterday a candidate for county sheriff in new hampshire said that he would not rule out the use of deadly force to prevent a woman from having an abortion. he would rather kill a woman

than allow her to end her pregnancy is what he was saying. >> kill two people. >> john: because he's so pro-life. you talk about contraception. you talk about preventing this problem. you talk about preventing unwanted pregnancies which is the problem not abortion and reducing abortions which went down every year under president clinton when he talked about this. and then they get even more upset. >> right. >> john: they don't want women to regulate their bodies. >> the way you -- limiting access for women so they know their place. you keep them in the home. you get them married. and they raise the family. and that is how you keep them in their place. >> prevent them from voting, please. >> john: i'm not so sure they were against women in the workplace. there's more women running for g.o.p. office than ever. i think you're right. it is miss misogynist. we will discuss this more. i'm john fuglesang thrilled to be with the brilliant laura bassett and the supreme karl frisch. we'll be right back after this.

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> >> announcer: the parting shot >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: we're back on the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill. it has been a pleasure being here. real quick because i said i would talk about the numbers. gallup poll showed 41% of americans call themselves pro-choice. but if you look deeper, the panel showed 20% of americans are against all abortion. 25% support abortion in all cases and 52% which includes many conservatives support it in some cases. that means 77% of americans support abortion in all or some

cases. only 41% choose to call themselves pro-choice and that's what choice is all about. it has been a pleasure being here. it has been a real honor filling bill's seat for the day. karl frisch. where can people follow you? >> first of all, those numbers you threw out as we all know, numbers, like science in the media have a quantifiable liberal bias. but people can find me at karlfrisch.com and follow me on twitter and facebook and all of the social media sites at karlfrisch. >> john: laura bassett? >> i would add to the numbers should probably go up if you consider the vaginas that choose to abort the baby on their own. because they're upset that they -- you know, have had a negative experience. so with that said, i'll just say my twitter is lebassett. two ss and two ts. follow me on "huffington post." i'm covering this like white on rice. >> john: we're out of time. i'm john fuglesang. see you tomorrow.